Red Bull KTM Factory Racing ended the 2025 German Grand Prix with a top seven result thanks to Brad Binder’s push at a crowded Sachsenring and a 98,573 attendance. The first of another double-header of fixtures took the series to the short and curving layout in Saxony and the eleventh round of the season played out in sunny conditions. The KTM GP Academy left the venue with more silverware with the KTM RC4 in Moto3™ and Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Deniz Öncü earned his second Moto2™ victory.
The distinctive and technical challenges of Sachsenring and a historic site for Grand Prix motorcycling were complicated further thanks to the changing climate covering the sold-out circuit west of Chemnitz. After a wet and chilly Saturday for qualification and the Sprint, the 30-lap Grand Prix took place under brighter and drier skies but with the continued threat of showers.
The Red Bull KTM contingent dropped to two-rider representation after the bad luck for both Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini but Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder were determined to demonstrate the potential and competitiveness of the KTM RC16 race package at the midway point of the season.
Acosta bustled into podium contention after throttling away from the middle of the second row and Binder was also active to figure in top ten running from the first lap. However, Pedro couldn’t settle into a rhythm after losing control into Turn 2 early on. The onus for Red Bull KTM fell to Binder who moved up to scrap with three other rivals for P6. The South African endured tire pressure problems for the duration but stayed on two wheels when a series of other riders fell into the gravel. He came home with 7th and nine points and was less than a tenth of a second from 6th.
Pedro holds 8th in the world championship standings. Maverick is 11th, Brad 12th and Enea is now 17th. MotoGP moves immediately east and to the fabled Brno circuit for the Grand Prix of Czechia. The last time Brno entertained the series in 2020 Brad Binder notched a special milestone for Red Bull KTM with the manufacturer’s first MotoGP triumph.
Brad Binder, 7th and 12th in the championship standings: “From a working point of view and the weekend as a whole this was definitely a step. The main race was super-difficult, such a long race and a lot of guys going down. It was chaos out there and very tricky for the front end. I was in a group the entire time and that was hard for the tire pressure and keeping the whole thing up. It was sketchy so, even though I would have liked a much better result, it was an accomplishment to get to the line.”
Pedro Acosta, DNF and 8th in the championship standings:“We don’t want to think about what could have been. We were four laps at the front with the guys but it was tough to follow them because we have less margin for error. I hardly made a mistake. Anyway…it was a solid weekend, always in the top five. We were just missing a little bit to put it all together. We’ll keep going. The last time we went to Brno it was quite nice for KTM so we’ll cross our fingers!”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “It was not our day today in what was a tough weekend where we missed two of our riders even before the Sprint on Saturday. The highlight was Brad, who finished and had a decent weekend overall with more progress. Pedro’s performance potential was also good and unfortunately he could not finish the race after a great start. We move on to Brno now, which will be interesting for us, and we wish a fast recovery for Maverick and hope to see Enea in a few days.”
